Tendinopathy, motherhood and injury: Laura Reid's four-year journey back to elite hockey with the Canberra Chill

The 27-year-old's story has had more twists and turns than most to get her back to hockey's elite level for the first time in four years.

There's been Hockeyroos chances and injuries - tendinopathy in her Achilles and a dislocated knee this year.

There's been motherhood - returning to the field four weeks after the birth of her first child and then again six weeks after the birth of her second child.

There's been full-time work - starting a job at the Goulburn Correctional Centre. And now - an opportunity to finally play for the Canberra Chill when the team's Hockey One season starts against Brisbane on Thursday.

If everything goes smoothly, it could put her back in Hockeyroos conversations, but she's starting with "baby step" goals.

"I want to get back to the standard that I was playing before having kids, so I've been focusing on fitness number one, to get the body right and make sure I'm robust enough to get through the series the best I can," Reid said.

"I can score goals, so if I can get a few runs on the board through the season that's what I'd like to do.

"If I were to play well enough for selection, I'd absolutely be open to it but it's probably not my main focus at the moment. If it were to happen it would need to be baby steps, because I have been out of it for quite sometime, so it'll just take baby steps and if that's where it leads, we'll go with that."

Reid's journey started back in 2018.

She was living in Perth and building towards a Hockeyroos debut in the development squad, before injuries marred her chances.

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"I kept getting tendinopathy in both of my Achilles, so I was off and on the pitch all the time," she said.

"Then I asked to come home to do some rehab, and see family and things."

What was penciled in as a relatively short stint back home on the east coast soon turned into a longer stay, as she fell pregnant with her first son.

She was back on the hockey field in 2019, four weeks after having a C-section, and as she got back into the swing of things, she set her sights on a return to high performance with the Chill.

But life had other plans again, this time Reid fell pregnant with her second son and sat out the next season.

The striker returned six weeks after another C-section in 2020 with a hockey stick in hand, but then it was COVID-19 rearing its head, and sporting codes around the world stopped.

Hockey was no exception, and Reid waited and while she waited for her life on the hockey field to start back up, she took on a new role off it.

Reid was working part-time in a bank in Goulburn, but with her second child on the way she was chasing a full-time job.

Enter Goulburn Correctional Centre.

Fast forward and she has been a correctional officer for two years and although it "has its days", she does love it.

Despite a new passion off the field, life keeps on coming and it does not stop coming when it comes to hockey for her. Suiting up in Canberra's Capital League One this year with Goulburn produced a hiccup of its own.

Reid dislocated her knee during a game a few months ago, but thankfully escaped surgery and has been back operating at full capacity for the last month.

She did think to herself, "oh no, not again".

"I did think that a little bit if I'm being honest, because with COVID and the rest of the things, I hadn't had a sustained period of time on the pitch," Reid said.

"So it was definitely a little disappointing to miss another three months but hopefully that's it, we can get there now.

"It's been pretty exciting actually being back, because there's quite a few younger girls at Goulburn that are in junior Aussie stuff at the moment. So it was different going from the person that was in that environment to then being someone who was a little bit older and being a mentor to those girls.

"But I've enjoyed it. They've pushed me to be better, because watching how they go about things made me miss it that little bit more, which prompted me to get back into the higher level stuff."

Reid missed the last instalment of the Hockey One league three years ago, so the 2022 season marks her first return to elite hockey, and her first in Chill colours.

She is joining the likes of former Hockeyroos Naomi Evans and Kalindi Commerford in the squad's lineup, along with international imports Shihori Oikawa, Katie Doar and Madison Doar.

As some big names are suiting up for the capital side this year, she cannot wait but is feeling a mixture of excitement and nerves.

Although three new faces in the crowd cheering her on this time at all Chill home games, and two away matches, in her sons and partner, should ease any nerves.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it because I left the scene halfway through 2018, that was the last high performance thing I did," Reid said.

"That was with the Hockeyroos, who were preparing to go to the World Cup in London. So it's been four years since my last return to this type of arena, and I'm really looking forward to it.

"There's a lot of young girls and there's been a bit of a changing of the guard, so I'm a bit nervous and excited at the same time. I've done this a million times before so I know my process, I know what works for me, so I'll kind of fall back into that routine."

HOCKEY ONE ROUND ONE

Thursday: Brisbane Blaze v Canberra Chill at Queensland State Hockey Centre, 6.30pm.

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